Agriculture arose in the valley, and for years hay, grain, vegetables, and fruit were grown for the inhabitants of Hamilton.

[5] When Hamilton was in decline, farmers in the Duckwater Valley started focussing on hay and grain, that they fed to their cattle.

[4] According to the 1881 book History of Nevada by Thompson and West, the valley consisted almost entirely of meadows, of which 800 acres (320 ha) was occupied by agricultural lands.

Around 1910, the farmers reduced the size of their cattle, because their rangelands were damaged by flocks of wild sheep in the winter season.

[5][3] The idea to establish a reservation had first been raised in 1937 by employees of the Florio Ranch, of which the owner wasn't able to pay the mortgage after he lost all his sheep in a blizzard.